Chapter XIV: Letter 66: To Mr. Dallas

"Newstead Abbey, September 7. 1811.

"As Gifford has been ever my 'Magnus Apollo.' any approbation, such
as you mention, would, of course, be more welcome than 'all
Bokara's vaunted gold, than all the gems of Samarkand.' But I am
sorry the MS. was shown to him in such a manner, and I had written
to Murray to say as much, before I was aware that it was too late.

"Your objection to the expression 'central line' I can only meet by
saying that, before Childe Harold left England, it was his full
intention to traverse Persia, and return by India, which he could
not have done without passing the equinoctial.

"The other errors you mention, I must correct in the progress
through the press. I feel honoured by the wish of such men that the
poem should be continued, but to do that, I must return to Greece
and Asia; I must have a warm sun and a blue sky; I cannot describe
scenes so dear to me by a sea-coal fire. I had projected an
additional Canto when I was in the Troad and Constantinople, and if
I saw them again, it would go on; but under existing circumstances
and _sensations_, I have neither harp, 'heart, nor voice' to
proceed. I feel that _you are all right_ as to the metaphysical
part; but I also feel that I am sincere, and that if I am only to
write '_ad captandum vulgus_,' I might as well edit a magazine at
once, or spin canzonettas for Vauxhall. * * *

"My work must make its way as well as it can; I know I have every
thing against me, angry poets and prejudices; but if the poem is a
_poem_, it will surmount these obstacles, and if _not_, it deserves
its fate. Your friend's Ode I have read--it is no great compliment
to pronounce it far superior to S * *'s on the same subject, or to
the merits of the new Chancellor. It is evidently the production of
a man of taste, and a poet, though I should not be willing to say
it was fully equal to what might be expected from the author of
'_Horæ Ionicæ_.' I thank you for it, and that is more than I would
do for any other Ode of the present day.

"I am very sensible of your good wishes, and, indeed, I have need
of them. My whole life has been at variance with propriety, not to
say decency; my circumstances are become involved; my friends are
dead or estranged, and my existence a dreary void. In Matthews I
have lost my 'guide, philosopher, and friend;' in Wingfield a
friend only, but one whom I could have wished to have preceded in
his long journey.

"Matthews was indeed an extraordinary man; it has not entered into
the heart of a stranger to conceive such a man: there was the stamp
of immortality in all he said or did;--and now what is he? When we
see such men pass away and be no more--men, who seem created to
display what the Creator _could make_ his creatures, gathered into
corruption, before the maturity of minds that might have been the
pride of posterity, what are we to conclude? For my own part, I am
bewildered. To me he was much, to Hobhouse every thing.--My poor
Hobhouse doted on Matthews. For me, I did not love quite so much as
I honoured him; I was indeed so sensible of his infinite
superiority, that though I did not envy, I stood in awe of it. He,
Hobhouse, Davies, and myself, formed a coterie of our own at
Cambridge and elsewhere. Davies is a wit and man of the world, and
feels as much as such a character can do; but not as Hobhouse has
been affected. Davies, who is not a scribbler, has always beaten us
all in the war of words, and by his colloquial powers at once
delighted and kept us in order. H. and myself always had the worst
of it with the other two; and even M. yielded to the dashing
vivacity of S.D. But I am talking to you of men, or boys, as if you
cared about such beings.

"I expect mine agent down on the 14th to proceed to Lancashire,
where I hear from all quarters that I have a very valuable property
in coals, &c. I then intend to accept an invitation to Cambridge in
October, and shall, perhaps, run up to town. I have four
invitations--to Wales, Dorset, Cambridge, and Chester; but I must
be a man of business. I am quite alone, as these long letters sadly
testify. I perceive, by referring to your letter, that the Ode is
from the author; make my thanks acceptable to him. His muse is
worthy a nobler theme. You will write as usual, I hope. I wish you
good evening, and am," &c.

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